Brian Dolan Named Dixon Unified School District Superintendent

After several months of overseeing Dixon Unified School District, Brian Dolan can finally drop the interim from his job title and simply go by superintendent.

Last night, the Dixon Unified School District Board of Education made it offical by ratifying Dolan's contract by a margin of 3-1. The lone abstained vote came from trustee Guy Garcia. Trustee Herb Cross was not present for the vote.

Garcia objected to making last-minute revisions to the contract made by the board. He argued that the contract was delivered to him and the other board members shortly before the meeting. The contract delivered by the district's attorney contained errors and sentences that needed clarifiation.

"I want a final copy," he told the board members. "We need a final document that we can approve."

Garcia argued that the board was attempting to push the contract through without properly scrutinizing it to meet a deadline. Dolan's contract as interim superintendent expires at the end of the month.

At issue was several changes, albiet minor moditications, to the contract that the board was attempting to make from a revised version of the contract, a draft prepared by the attorney.

They included:

• The term base salary was not clearly defined in the contract.
• A typographical mistake was made on page nine of the document.
• A required 30-day notice was not stipulated in the contract should Dolan decide to resign from his position.
• Dolan's expected work days were incorrect at 220 days and needed to be changed to 223.

Trustee Herb Cross seemed to agree with Garcia in wanting more time to review the changes, but left the meeting before the vote could take place.

The board held a 20-minute recess in which they took another look at the contract and made changes. Under Dolan's contract, he will be paid a salary of $150,000 a year.

Dolan has served as interim superintendent since July, 2011. He became the interim superintendent when then-superintendent Roger Halberg retired from his position.

Since then, Dolan has made strides in getting the district to better communicate with each other and has had a positive impact on the tone of board meetings.

Dolan has steered the district through many challenges as interim superintendent including contract negotiations, school fiascos, communications between the board and the various school sites and administration and has played a vital role in the gaining some trust back from the Dixon Teachers Association, SEIU, students and the community that the district serves. 

Dolan has worked within the district for 15 years, serving a wide variety of jobs including former principal of and has also served as a Senior Director within the district's Human Resources Department, Human Resources, Facilities/Maintenance and Operations, and Pupil Services. He has also served as an interim principal at Silveyville (now closed) and

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Editor's note: A previous version of this story contained a misleading sub-headline. Dolan's contract was ratified by a margin of 3-1. For corrections, please contact the editor at carlos.villatoro@patch.com